New energy tracking technology is installed and ready to go in Kawerak’s Talialuk Building. As of March 1st, sensors were installed by Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC), with help from Kawerak’s IT Department and electricians from Bering Straits Development Company. It’s the start of a testing phase of the equipment that will both lower costs for Kawerak and prepare the technology to be used at Head Start locations in the Bering Strait Region with the ultimate goal of reducing energy usage and cost.
The system includes one main wireless gateway sensor that looks like a wifi router and several small black sensors mounted on walls throughout the building, they look like small, black rectangles with little bundled cords handing from them. These small black sensors are measuring temperature and occupancy and how many time the boilers kick on throughout the day. The gateway collects that data and tracks it on a live, online platform.
Kawerak’s Energy Program, under the Environmental Program, Natural Resources Division, is working with AHFC to monitor Talialuk’s energy usage. Some rooms in the building heat up to higher temperatures than others, resulting in the need to open windows and therefore waste energy. Understanding this loss and finding solutions to stop it will help save energy and lower costs for Kawerak.
Besides helping reduce energy use in our Kawerak buildings, the main goal of this program is to be a training tool in buildings region wide. Once reading energy data with this system at Kawerak is proficient, energy use monitoring will be in Kawerak-owned Head Start Buildings region wide. Eventually, these types of systems could be installed in nearly any public or commercial building throughout the region to help identify energy issues and help our communities save money on their utility bills. This program was made possible through funding from a technical assistance grant with the Department of Energy.
Want to learn more about energy saving?
If you privately own your home:
AHFC mainly does this type of monitoring for commercial & public buildings throughout the state. But, they do help with weatherization & energy audits on residential homes all over the state. They also have loan programs
